BUILDING YOUR STORY CHARACTER’S PERSONALITY

Brooke laughed as she tossed down the damp napkins, “It figures you’d keep your cool clothes in your car and dress like this for school.”

This mild comment from the other character, reveals that the character is one who’s interested in her appearance, fashion and style

In the above illustration, it’s done through dialogue but it can also be done through narration.

Narration

In the American movie – Wedding Planner, the scene where the main character- Mary Fiore struggles to pull out her designer shoes. She’s stopping at the middle of the major road, not minding the sight of an oncoming vehicle. This could be another way of impressing her high interest and love for classy items on the viewer.

There are various ways of revealing character’s personality through their dressing, In this case, it’s her love for Her Expensive Shoes.

So, you can show your character’s personality via dialogue or narration.

CHARACTERS RELATIONSHIPS

The kind of relationship your character keeps must tell us something about their personality.

From classic literature books by Chimamanda Adichie to Movies like War room; there are examples of character relationships to explore.

Some might be believable others may be non-static relationships.

If a specific type of character relationship is central to your story (such as a life-altering friendship or romance), find books where these similar features occur and make a summary of the course of the relationship.

Jot down characters interactions through the course of the story?

Do the characters’ personalities complement each other? Can you give reasons why each character behaves the way they do? Does their behaviour affect their relationships?

Like in the movie, ‘War Room’, we saw how the relationship between the elderly lady and the lady experiencing marital crisis was pivotal to the story.

Also, ask what types of differences create the biggest conflict in their relationship?

A few more tips

You can understudy relationships with your friends and people you know and infuse them when writing your story.

You can further choose to section it, relationship with blood ties or relationship without blood ties.

The former could be stronger than the latter or vice versa whichever way

In the next episode, other points of Character Personality would be tackled.